Abstract
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are currently being deployed in many European Commission Horizon 2020 projects in reaction to the increasing number of environmental threats, such as climate change, unsustainable urbanization, degradation and loss of natural capital and ecosystem services. In this research, we consider the application of NBS as a catalyst for social inclusivity in urban regeneration strategies, enabled through civic participation in the co-creation of green interventions with respect to social cohesion and wellbeing. This article is focused on a social monitoring framework elaborated within the H2020 CLEVER Cities project, with the city of Milan as a case study. Firstly, we overviewed the major regeneration challenges and expected co-benefits of the project, which are mainly human health and wellbeing, social cohesion and environmental justice, as well as citizen perception about safety and security related to the NBS implementation process. Secondly, we examined the relevance of using NBS in addressing social co-benefits by analyzing data from questionnaires against a set of five major indicators, submitted to citizens and participants of activities during pre-greening interventions: (1) Place, use of space and relationship with nature, (2) Perceived ownership and sense of belonging, (3) Psychosocial issues, social interactions and social cohesion, (4) Citizen perception about safety and security, and lastly, we analyzed (5) knowledge about CLEVER interventions and NBS benefits in relation to socio-demographics of the questionnaires’ respondents. Thirdly, we cross-referenced a wind-rose multi-model of co-benefits analysis for NBS across the regeneration challenges of the project. Because of the COVID-19 emergency, in this research we mainly focused on site observations and online questionnaires, as well as on monitoring pre-greening scenarios in three Urban Living Labs (ULLs) in Milan, namely CLEVER Action Labs. Lastly, this study emphasizes the expected social added values of NBS impact over long-term urban regeneration projects. Insights from the pre-greening surveys results accentuate the importance of the NBS interventions in citizens’ perceptions about their wellbeing, general health and strong sense of neighborhood belonging. A wider interest towards civic participation in co-management and getting informed about NBS interventions in the Milanese context is also noted.
Highlights
In order to correlate the spatial impact of nature-based solutions (NBS) on the beneficiaries of each CLEVER Action Labs (CALs), two other sections were added to the social monitoring methodology and the questionnaires after this iteration, looking at the relative knowledge about CLEVER interventions and expectations related to NBS co-benefits and socio-demographic data
With relevance or preferences; multiple choice questions refer to different possible choices within the available answers to select. Another two sets of micro indicators were added to these previous ones not uniquely related to the urban regeneration challenges of the CLEVER Cities project, but rather to the city-specific CALs context, after the iteration described in Step 04, (Figure 1)
Knowledge about the CLEVER interventions and NBS in general in the city of Milan, in addition to the willingness to participate in co-design and co-management of Another two sets of micro indicators were added to these previous ones not uniquely related to the urban regeneration challenges of the CLEVER Cities project, but rather to the city-specific CALs context, after the iteration described in Step 04 (Figure 1)
Summary
While many scientific contributions discuss the definitions and the theoretical frameworks of monitoring environmental impacts related to nature-based solutions (NBS) [1,2,3]. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9672 hands-on experiences and evidence-based effects from cities are still required to improve our understanding of the range of social, wellbeing and general health benefits provided by NBS. This is a key first step for promoting their introduction in urban planning policies and decision-making processes in cities [4,5]. Italferr (Società Italferr Spa—Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato italiane).) For more on the co-creation of CLEVER Cities see [38,39]
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